128 

4 

3 U18 

p^ ' THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF 

GEORGE III 

AND THE 

PEDESTRIAN STATUE OF 
WILLIAM PITT 

ERECTED IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK 

1770 



By Alexander J. Wall 

Ass't Librarian, the New York Historical Society 



Reprinted from The Quarterly Bulletin, July, 1920 
the new york historical society 

1920 



.0:3 VJi<? 




THE GEORGE III STATUE ERECTED IN BOWLING GREEN 1770. 
BY CHARLES M. LEFFERTS. 



By Tranefar 

NOV 22 1920 






THE STATUES OF KING GEORGE III AND THE 

HONORABLE WILLIAM PUT ERECTED 

IN NEW YORK CITY 1770 

To the Colonial disturbances in the Colony of New York 
brought about by the enactment of the "Stamp Act" on March 
22, 1765 may be laid the cause for the erection in 1770 of the two 
very interesting works of sculpture, the equestrian Statue of King 
George III and the pedestrian statue of the Honorable William 
Pitt, later the Earl of Chatham. It is evident from contemporary 
accounts that it was William Pitt (the Champion of the American 
Cause in Parliament and his efforts for the repeal of the Stamp 
Act on March 18, 1766) whom the Colonists desired mostly to 
honor in consideration of his many services for the Colonies during 
those troublesome times. But the Legislature apparently could 
hardly justify the expenditure of a sum of money to honor Pitt 
and ignore the King, so we find the first suggestion for the famous 
Equestrian Statue of King George HI originating in the Assembly 
of the Colony of New York in June, 1766 when for several months 
previously the Statue of Pitt had been a matter of discussion which 
resulted in a petition to the Assembly. That both these statues 
should have been authorized and paid for simultaneously, both 
executed by the same sculptor in London, both erected in the City 
of New York the same year three weeks apart and both destroyed 
six years later, one by the Americans and the other by the British 
and all that is left of each of them should now rest in the New York 
room of the New York Historical Society close by each other, al- 
though they had strayed far apart for many years, are facts in the 
story of the fate of these two most interesting local statues which 
romance could not mould better. It is, therefore, impossible to 
separate the accounts of these statues in history, as the story of 
one relates to the other. The statue of George HI was the first 
Equestrian Statue erected in America.^ 

One of the earliest mentions of the intention to erect the Pitt 
Statue occurs in the Journals of Captain John Montressor who 
under date of March 18, 1766 writes: 

1 The Equestrian Statues of the World, 1913, page 8. Two other Equestrian statues were 
erected to George III according to this list, one in London and another in Liverpool. 



38 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

"The Sons of Liberty prepanng; to have a procession, with Sir 
JefFry Amherst's effigy, afterwards to burn it, as they say he pro- 
posed to augment the mihtary forces in America, towards the 
more effectual forcing the Stamp Act. Also propose, erecting a 
statue of Mr. Pitt (as a friend) in the Bowling Green, on the iden- 
tical spot where the Lieut. Governor's chariot was burned and to 
name that Green 'Liberty Green' forever." ^ 

Bowling Green, therefore, was first suggested for the Pitt 
statue, but afterwards the king's equestrian statue was given this 
imposing location while Pitt was placed at Wall and William 
Streets. 

William Pitt enjoyed the favor and gratitude of the populace of 
both England and America. After the Repeal of the Stamp Act 
the news from London under date of April 22, 1766 stated that "a 
great number of rings, set with the head of Mr. Pitt, are intended 
to be sent as presents to some of the principal merchants in Amer- 
ica, by their correspondents in this city," ^ while on May 3, 1766 it 
was reported from London in the New York press that a handsome 
medal had been struck the size of a crown-piece bearing the head of 
Mr. Pitt with his name and on the reverse the inscription, "The 
man who, having saved the parent, pleaded with success for her 
children" and on the same day it was announced that the fine 
statue of Mr. Pitt to be placed in the Guildhall at Cork, Ireland, 
was finished by Mr. Wilton, at an expense of 500 pounds and that 
it bore the following inscription: 

The Right Honorable William Pitt, 

This Statue was erected by 

The Corporation and Citizens of Cork, 

As a lasting Memorial of Gratitude. 

Anno 1766. 

Nil oriturum alias nil ortum tale fatentes. Hor^ 

Whether this statue, which is still standing in the corridor of 
the Crawford Municipal School of Art, in Emmet Place, Cork, 
Ireland,^ was the original inspiration for the sons of Liberty to do 

2 The New York Historical Society Collections, 1881, p. 353. 
^ Holt's New York Gazette, July 3, 1766, Supp. 

* Weymans New York Gazette, June 30, 1766. 

* Hart's Peale's Allegory of JVilliam Pitt, 1915, page 5. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



39 



V /;r/ ^-y ^^-V 





» 



7 ■ 






40 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

likewise in the Colonies or the Citizens of Cork conceived the idea 
from the Colonies, is difficult to determine, but the fact is that the 
project was first carried out in Ireland and by the same sculptor, 
Joseph Wilton, who later executed the work for the Colonies. 
Following closely upon the completion of the Cork statue. South 
Carolina resolved on May 8, 1766 "that they will make provision, 
for defraying the Expense of procuring from England, a Marble 
Statue of the Right Honorable William Pitt, Esquire; to be erected 
in this Province" *" which (according to the Charleston press of the 
day) met with many adverse comments. 

On June 19, 1766 a notice appeared in the New York papers 
stating that "the Freemen and Freeholders of the City of New 
York are requested to meet at the House of Mr. Richard Howard, 
To-morrow in the Afternoon, at five o'clock, in order to choose a 
Committee to instruct their Members to move in the House of 
Assembly, that provision be made for erecting a Statue to Mr. Pitt, 
in Testimony of the Grateful sense they entertain of his Services 
to the American Colonies; and to write Letters of thanks to all 
those illustrious personages who have so zealously exerted them- 
selves in both Houses of Parliament, in obtaining the Repeal of the 
Stamp Act." ^ 

This meeting resulted in a petition dated June 23, 1766 which 
was presented and acted upon by the General Assembly of New 
York the same day it was dated. It reads as follows: 

A petition addressed to John Cruger, Leonard Lispenard, and 
William Bayard, Esq'^^" Representatives in the General Assembly 
of the Freemen and Freeholders of the City of New York read as 
follows : 

"We, Freemen and Freeholders of the City of New York, 
assembled at the Coffee-House the 23*^ Day of June 1766, impressed 
with the deepest Sense of Gratitude to all the Friends of Liberty 
and America who exerted themselves in promoting the Repeal of 
the Stamp Act, think it our indispensible Duty to endeavour, by 
erecting a proper Monument, to perpetuate the Memory of so 
glorious an Event, to the latest posterity. 

We therefore earnestly entreat of, and strenuously recommend 
to, you Gentlemen our Representatives, that you will move in the 

^ S. C. Hist, y Gen. Mag. Vol. 15, page 21, & Supp. A^. Y. Gazette, June 12, 1766. 
^ Holt's N. Y. Gazette, June 19, 1766. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



41 




THE STATUE OF MARCUS AURELIUS IN ROME, ITALY, USED AS A MODEL FOR THE 

GEORGE III STATUE. 

House of Assembly, now sitting, for a Vote of the Honourable 
House, to make provision for an elegant Statue of Brass of the 
Rt. Hon. WiUiam Pitt, Esq.; whom we regard in the sacred Light of 
having a second Time been the preserver of his Country. . . . 

Signed by Order, and at the Request of a considerable Number 
of respectable Inhabitants of the City of New York, assembled as 
above. 

James DeLancey Isaac Low, 

William Walton, Jun. Henry White, 

John Thurman, Jun. J. Harris Cruger.'*^ 

8 Weymans N. Y. Gazette, June 30, 1766. 



42 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

On June 23, 1766 Montressor states that subscription papers 
were being carried about for a Statue of Mr. Pitt to be erected here.^ 

It will be noted that until now no aggitation had been carried on 
for a statue of George III and not even a mention of it had been 
made, until the General Assembly of New York acting upon the 
above quoted petition took "into consideration the innumerable 
and singular Benefits received from our most gracious soverign, 
since the Commencement of his auspicious Reign, during which 
they have been protected from the Fury of a cruel, merciless, and 
savage Enemy; and lately from the utmost Confusion and Distress, 
by the Repeal of the Stamp Act: In Testimony therefore of their 
Gratitude, and the Reverence due to his Sacred Person and Char- 
acter; 

Resolved, That this House will make Provision for an Equestrian 
Statue of His present Majesty, our Most Gracious Sovereign, to be 
erected in the City of New York, to perpetuate to the latest pos- 
terity, the deep Sense this Colony has, of the eminent and singular 
Blessings derived from him, during His most auspicious Reign." 

Whereupon Mr. Cruger moved "That in consideration of the 
many eminent and essential Services done the Northern Colonies 
by the Right Honourable William Pitt, Esq; but particularly in 
promoting the Repeal of the late Stamp Act, and to perpetuate to 
the latest posterity, the grateful Sense this Colony entertains on 
that Account; provision might be made for erecting an elegant 
Statue of Him in Brass: whereupon it was 

"Resolved, That this House will provide ways and Means to 
procure and pay for a Statue of the Right Honourable William 
Pitt, Esq; accordingly."^" 

The General Assembly which enacted these Resolves was 
prorogued on June 12, 1766 and took recess on July 3 having com- 
pleted the business recommended to them by His Excellency Sir 
Henry Moore, Governor of the Colony of New York. In his 
Speech to the Assembly the Governor made no mention of the 
statues'^ nor did he give his assent to the act passed providing for 



9 A'^. Y. Hist. Soc. Collections 188 1 page 374. 

10 Weyvians The New York Gazette, June 30, 1766. 

11 See Speech in Weymans N . Y. Gazette, June 16, 1766. 

^ See Four Acts assented to by the Governor in Weymans N. Y. Gazette, July 7, 1766. 



QUARTERLYBULLETIN 43 

Apparently no further action was taken towards erecting these 
statues until February 6, 1768 when the Assembly passed an act 
reciting their previous action in June 1766 in consequence of which 
"Robert Charles, Esq. the Agent of this Province was directed 
with all expedition to cause the before mentioned" statues to be 
completed in the best manner and authorized Sir WilUam Baker 
Knight and Robert Charles Esquire, of the City of London, out of the 
monies now in their hands belonging to the Colony, to pay Robert 
Charles, one thousand pounds for the Equestrian Statue of his 
Majesty and five hundred pounds for the statue of the Right 
Honorable William Pitt, Esquire.^^ 

On the same day that the New York Assembly voted to provide 
for the erection of the two statues, June 23, 1766, the Commons 
House of Assembly of the Province of South Carolina voted seven 
thousand pounds for a marble Statue of WiUiam Pitt to be erected 
in that province and ordered the public Treasurer to procure good 
bills of Exchange to the amount of one thousand pounds Sterling 
and remit the same to their agent towards the payment of the 
Statue. ^^ 

The work of executing the George HI statue as well as the two 
statues of WilHam Pitt was entrusted to Joseph Wilton (1722-1803) 
the noted sculptor of the period, one of the founders of the Royal 
Academy of Arts, who created the monument in W^estminster Abby 
erected to General Wolfe who fell at Quebec. 

On May 9th, 1770 it was stated at a meeting of the Common 
Council that the statue of George HI was daily expected from 
England and that it was the desire of Lieut. Governor and Council 
to erect it in some part of the Bowling Green, fronting the fort, 
who requested leave of the Corporation for that purpose, which was 
granted.^" 

On June 4, 1770 it was announced that the ship Britannia 
Captain Thomas Miller, had brought over "the Statues of his 
Majesty and Mr. Pitt now Earl of Chatham, "^^ and the Common 
Council was again appealed to on June 25th, 1770, on behalf of his 
Majesty's Council and the City members of the General Assembly 

13 Colonial Laws of New York, 1894, pages 1002-3. 
" S. C. Hist, y Gen. Mag. Vol. 15, page 22. 

15 Minutes of the Common Council, City of New York, Vol. 7, pages 212-213. 

16 New York Gazette 'd Weekly Mercury, June 4, 1770. 



44 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

for permission to erect the Pitt statue in "Wall Street, opposite 
to the houses of John Thurman and Evert Bancker, nearly where 
the pump now stands," which was granted accordingly.^^ 

With the arrival of the statues and the necessary permission 
granted for erecting them in their respective locations, the stage was 
set for carrying out the projects started four years previously. 

The newspapers of the day describe the ceremonies at the 
erection of King George III statue in the following words. 

"Thursday last (August i6, 1770) being the Anniversary of the 
Birth Day of his Royal Highness Prince Frederick, an elegant 
Equestrian Statue of his present Majesty, was erected in the Bowl- 
ing-Green, in this City, near Fort-George. On this occasion, the 
Members of his Majesty's Council, the City Corporation, the Cor- 
poration of the Chamber of Commerce, the Corporation of the 
Marine Society, and most of the Gentlemen of the City and Army 
waited on his Honour the Lieutenant Governor, in the Fort, at his 
request, where their Majesties and other loyal Healths were drank, 
under a Discharge of 32 Pieces of Cannon from the Battery, accom- 
panied with a Band of Music. This beautiful statue is made of 
metal, richly gilt, being the first Equestrian one of his present 
Majesty, and is the workmanship of that celebrated Statuary, Mr. 
Wilton, of London. We hear that in a few days a Marble Pedestrian 
Statue of Mr. Pitt, will be erected in Wall-Street." ^^ 

Another account says: 
"Thursday last the Statue of his Majesty, King George the 
Third, was fixed on the pedestal erected for it in Bowling Green. 
His Honour the Lieut. Governor having invited most of the principal 
Gentlemen in the City, both Civil and Military; about 12 o'clock 
they attended his Honour in Fort George, where his Majesty's 
Health, &c. was drank, under the Discharge of 31 Cannon from the 
Battery. 

The following Inscription is on the pedestal of his Majesty's 
Statue: 



1^ Mhiutes of the Common Council, City of New York, Vol. 7, page 220. 
1* New York Journal or the General Advertiser, Aug. 23, 1770. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



45 




AN INCORRECT VIEW OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE KING'S STATUE, 
PUBLISHED IN FRANCE. 




ANDERSON^S INCORRECT WOODCUT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STATUE. 



46 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Equestrian 

Statue 

of 

George III 

King of Great Britain, &c. 

Erected MDCCLXX.''^^ 

Lieutenant Governor Cadwallader Golden tells of this celebra- 
tion in a letter to the Earl of Hillsborough dated New York August 

i8, 1770. He says: r , , • a u 

"An Equestrian guilt Statue, of the king, made by 
direction of,'and purchased by this Colony, came over in one of the 
last ships from London. On Thursday last it was opened to view, 
erected on its proper pedestal, in a square near the Fort and frontmg 
the principle street of the City. I was attended on this occasion 
by the Gentlemen of the Council, and Members of Assembly then 
in Town, the Magistrates of the City, the Clergy of all Denomina- 
tions, and a verv large number of the principal Inhabitants. Our 
Lovaltv, firm attachment and affection to His Maj*^'^ person was 
expressed by drinking the kings Health, and a long continuance 
of His reign, under a discharge of 32 pieces of Cannon. A «and ot 
music playing at the same time from the Ramparts of the lort. 
The General and Officers of the Army gave us the honor ot their 
company on the occasion. The Whole Company walked m pro- 
cession from the Fort, round the Statue, while the Spectators ex- 
pressed their Joy, by loud acclamations, the procession having 
returned with me to the Fort, and the ceremony concluded with 
great chearfulness and good humor." 20 o r- u 

No mention is made in the correspondence of Lieut. Gov. Colden 
to the erection of the Pitt statue on September 7, I770 three weeks 
after the above described ceremony nor is it recorded that he took 
any part in the event which is described as follows : 

Last Friday [September 7, 1770] the Statue of the Right Hon 
WiUiam Pitt, Esq., Earl of Chatham, was fixed on the Pedestal 
erected for it in Wall-Street, amidst the Acclamations ot a great 
Number of the Inhabitants. The Statue is of fine white Marble, the 
Habit Roman, the right Hand holds a Scroll, partly open, whereon 

19 New York Gazette or the Weekly Post Boy, Aug. 20, 1770. 
^oNew York Historical Society Collections, 1877, page 226. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



47 




BULLET MOULD USED FOR MAKING THE LEADEN BULLETS 




THE FRAGMENTS OF THE EQUESTRIAN STATUE OF GEORGE III. 



48 T H E [ N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

we read, Articuli Magna Charta. Libertatum; the left hand is ex- 
tended, the Figure being in the Attitude of one delivering an Ora- 
tion. On the South Side of the Pedestal, the following Inscription 
is cut on a table of white Marble: 

THIS STATUE 

OF THE 

RIGHT HONOURABLE 

WILLIAM PITT, 

EARL OF CHATHAM, 

WAS ERECTED 

AS A PUBLIC TESTIMONY OF THE GRATEFUL 

SENSE THE COLONY OF NEW-YORK 

RETAINS OF THE MANY EMINENT 

SERVICES HE RENDERED AMERICA, 

PARTICULARLY IN PROMOTING THE REPEAL 

OF THE STAMP-ACT. 

ANNO DOM, M,DCC,LXX.-^ 

Another contemporary newspaper prints the simple announce- 
ment: 

"Friday last a marble pedestrian Statue of Lord Chatham was 
erected in Wall-Street in this city." " 

The George III statue was placed in the center of Bowling 
Green facing the Fort. It was modelled by Joseph Wilton after 
the equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius in Rome, Italy, illustrated 
in this article. No contemporary picture of the George III statue 
has come down to us. An imaginative view of its destruction pub- 
lished in France, showing the king as a pedestrian is wholly incor- 
rect. Anderson's early wood engraving does not correspond with 
facts. But we are indebted to our member, Mr. Charles M. Lef- 
ferts, who after very careful study has reproduced for the Society 
a correct representation of this Equestrian statue which we illus- 
trate as a frontispiece. On May 3rd, 1771 the Common Council of 
the city agreed to fence in the Green with iron rails and a stone 
foundation according to a plan exhibited to the Board and con- 
tracted with Richard Sharpe, Peter T. Curtenius, Gilbert Forbes 



21 New York Gazette or the Weekly Post Boy, Sept. 10, 1770. 
^New York Gazette and the Weekly Mercury, Sept. lo, 1770. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 49 

and Andrew Lvall to complete the same at a cost of £8oo.23 ^he 
plan of Gerard Bancker, City Surveyor, is reproduced m this arti- 
cle and gives interesting dimensions of the green oval. ^ 

From a contemporary map of the city we find that the Fitt 
statue stood in the center of the roadway at the intersection ot 
Wall and William Streets.^^ This statue was also enclosed with a 
railing for we learn that certain measurements for grading Smith 
(now WiUiam) Street were made from "the railing at Mr. Fitt s 

statue"" in 1773. 

Lieutenant Isaac Bangs of the American Army gives us a con- 
temporary descriptive picture of the King's statue as he saw it on 

April 19th, 1776: rrz-r^ d 

"Near the Fort, is the Equestrian Statue of King George 3 ' a 
present from himself to this City. The design was in imitation of 
one of the Roman Emperors on Horseback. The Man George is 
represented about ^ larger than a Natural Man; the Horse, in pro- 
portion, both neatly constructed of Lead gilt with Gold raised on a 
Pedestal of White Marble, about 15 Feet high, enclosed with a very 
elegant Fence about 10 feet high, the two lower feet Stone, the re- 
mainder of open worked Iron; the enclosure was oval, containing 
about Va of an acre of beautiful green. This, with several churches 
and other Elegant buildings on either side of jhe spacious street, 
forms a most beautiful prospect from the Fort." ^e 

On February 6th, I773 the General Assembly of New York 
passed an Act to prevent the defacing of the statues erected in the 
City of New York under a penalty of five hundred pounds hne or 
one year in the common gaol." This legislation appears to have 
been the result of some injury done the Pitt statue as on^ebruary 
7th 1774 it was ordered bv the Common Council that the suni ot 
£6 be paid on account to Anthony Dodane "for work now by him 
doing to the statue of Mr. Pit" and on March 23, 1774 the balance 
of £16:6 was ordered paid to Anthony Dodane and William Valen- 
tine "for repairing of the statue of the Earle of Chatham, ^s 

^3 Minutes of the Common Council City of NezcYork, Vo'- 7' P^Jf J^/; , y^j, ^^^, 

2^ Hill's Ms. Map of New l'ork,_i7S2 in N. Y. H. b. btokes iconograpny, vu j, f & 
r,f,A <:;iv<; the Statue was west of William Street. , ,^ , o 

^^'^^MLutes7'he Common Council, City of New York, Vol. 7, pages 443, 448- 

26 Journal of Lieut. Isaac Bangs, 1890, page 25. 

27 Laws of New York, 1691-1773 N. Y. 1774, P^ges 719-20. 

2s mTuuIs of the Common Council, City of New York, Vol. 8, pages 5, 16. 



50 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

The Declaration of Independence which was read on July 9, 
1776 at the head of each brigade of the Continental Army posted 
at New York brought destruction to the King's statue the same 
evening through the joyous demonstrations of soldiers and inhabi- 
tants. For in the words of the press of the day we read that "the 
equestrian statue of George III which tory pride and folly raised 
in the year 1770, was by the sons of freedom, laid prostrate in the 
dirt; the just deserts of an ungrateful tyrant! The lead wherewith 
this monument was made, is to be run into bullets, to assimilate 
with the brains of our infatuated adversaries, who, to gain a pep- 
per-corn, have lost an empire. 'Quos Deus vult perdere, prius de- 
mentat. 

Lieutenant Isaac Bangs under date of July 10, 1776 wrote: 
"Last night the Statue on the Bowling Green representing George 
Ghewelph alias George Rex was pulled down by the populace. In 
it were 4,000 pounds of Lead and a Man undertook to take off 10 oz. 
of gold from the Superficies, as both Man and Horse were covered 
with Gold leaf. The Lead we hear is to be run up into musket 
balls for the use of the Yankees, when it is hoped that the emana- 
tions of the Leaden George will make as deep impressions in the 
Bodies of some of his red coated and Torie Subjects." . . .^° 

This Act met with the disapproval of General Washington who 
expressed himself in the general orders to the army on July 10, 
1776, viz.: "Though the General doubts not the persons who 
pulled down and mutilated the Statue in the Broadway last night 
were actuated by zeal in the public cause, yet it has so much the 
appearance of a riot and want of order in the army, that he disap- 
proves the manner, and directs that in the future these things shall 
be avoided by the soldiery, and left to be executed by the proper 
authority." ^^ 

The statue of the king was broken up and sent to Litchfield, 
Conn., where according to the Wolcott family papers was moulded 
into bullets by the ladies of that village and a memorandum made 
as follows: 



29 Pennsylvania Journal and the Jl'eekly Advertiser, July 17, 1776. 
^^ Journal of Lieut. Isaac Bangs 1890, page 57. 
"^ Ford's Writings of JVashington, Vol. 4, page 226. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



51 





o 

en 

" w 

o ^; 

w « 

O c/5 



O 
O 
X 

a 

a s 

o o 
« g 



52 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

Cartridges 

Mrs. Marvin 6,058 

Ruth Marvin ii>592 

Laura [Wolcott] 8^378 

Mary Ann [Wolcott] 10,790 

Frederic [Wolcott] 936 

Mrs, Beach 1,802 

Made by sundry persons 2,182 

Gave Litchfield militia on alarm 50 

Let the Regiment of Col. Wigglesworth have 300 

Number of cartridges 42,088.^^ 

The Society possesses a bullet mould with a capacity for mak- 
ing twelve bullets at one time which is said to have been used 
when the king's statue was turned into the above mentioned car- 
tridges. It was presented to the Society April 17, i860 by Mr. 
Clinton Roosevelt, grandson of Colonel Peter T. Curtenius of the 
Revolution. 

The head of the king's statue escaped the fate which befell his 
body and horse and was finally returned to England by Captain 
John Montressor whose own words tell the story best, viz. : 

"My hearing that the Rebels had cut the king's head off the 
Equestrian Statue (in the centre of the Ellipps near the Fort) at 
New York, which represented George the 3rd in the figure of 
Marcus Aurelius, and that they had cut the nose off, dipt the 
laurels that were wreathed round his head, and drove a musket 
Bullet part of the way through his Head, and otherwise disfigured 
it, and that it was carried to Moore's tavern, adjoining Fort Wash- 
ington, on New York Island, in order to be fixed on a Spike on the 
Truck of that Flagstaff as soon as it could be got ready, I imme- 
diately sent Corby through the Rebel Camp in the beginning of 
September, 1776, to Cox, who kept the Tavern at King's Bridge, to 
steal it from thence, and to bury it, which was effected, and was 
dug up on our arrival, and I rewarded the men, and sent the Head 
by the Lady Gage to Lord Townshend in order to convince them 
at home of the Infamous Disposition of the Ungrateful people of 
this distressed Country." ^^ , 

^^ Memorial of Henry IVolcott y his Descendants, 1881, page 163. 
33 J^eiv York Historical Society Collections, 1881, pages, 123-124. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



53 




VIEW OF BOWLING GREEN 1783. SHOWING THE PEDESTAL OF GEORGE III STATUE 

IN THE CENTER. 

Governor Thomas Hutchinson in his diary under date of No- 
vember 22, 1777 continues the narrative of events concerning the 
king's head: "At Lord Townshend's Portman Square. Lady 
Townshend asked me if I had a mind to see an instance of Ameri- 
can loyalty? and going to the sopha, uncovered a large gilt head, 
which at once appeared to be that of the King, which it seems the 
rebels at N. York, after the Declaration of Independence, cut ofF 
from the statue which had been erected there, and sent to Fort 
Washington, in order to fix it on a pole or pike: but by some means 
or other it was buried, and after the surrender of the Fort, Mon- 
tressor took it into his possession, and sent it to Lord T., which he 
rec'^ last night. The nose is wounded and defaced, but the gilding 
remains fair; and as it was well executed, it retains a striking Hke- 
ness." ^^ 

The top slab of the pedestal on which the King's charger stood 
with one foot raised served several purposes before its final resting 
place with this Society. During the Revolution it was brought 
to Paulus Hoeck (Jersey City) and in 1783 was placed over the 
grave of Major John Smith of the 42d or Royal Highland Regi- 



^ Diary and Letters of His Ex. Thomas Hutchinson, 1886, Vol. 2, page 167. 



54 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

ment who died July 25, 1783. When Jersey City was graded, the 
slab was removed to the residence of Cornelius Van Vorst at Har- 
simus, N. J., and used as a stepping-stone. In 1818 the stone was 
removed to the residence of his grandson, Cornelius Van Vorst, N. 
E. corner Wayne St. and Jersey Ave., where it remained until 
October, 1874, when it was presented by him to the New York 
Historical Society. 

Four fragments of the leaden statue still partly gilt, also sur- 
vived. They were found in April, 1871 on the farm of E. B. 
Cooley at Wilton, Conn., and comprise the tail of the horse, part of 
the saddle and saddle cloth and perhaps parts of the flank of the 
horse, and altogether weigh about 200 pounds. Twenty members 
of the Society subscribed five dollars each (one hundred dollars) 
for their purchase and presented them to the Society, June 4, 1878. 
How^ these fragments became separated from the main portions of the 
statue is a matter of conjecture. Tradition in Wilton was that 
these pieces had been thrown aside when the statue was being 
transported through the town.^' 

The white marble pedestal fifteen feet high on which the eques- 
trian statue stood, remained in the center of Bowling Green until 
1818 when it was removed. A correspondent in the New York 
Evening Post of May 19, 1818 asks why this pedestal which has 
remained standing so many years should at that time be removed 
and the materials thrown into the street. Expressing deep regret 
the writer says: "Association entwined about this pillar a collec- 
tion of events that no history could convey." 

The Pitt statue fared no better than its illustrious companion, 
for the British took possession of the City of New York September 
15, 1776 and shortly afterward some British officers knocked off' 
the head of the statue on St. Andrew's night, November 30, and to 
this day no trace of it has come to light.^'^ The headless and arm- 
less form remained standing on its original site until on March 21, 
1787, a petition of a majority of the proprietors of the Lots of 
Ground in Wall Street requested that the street be regulated and 
paved and that Pitt's statue which greatly obstructed the street be 
removed." The paving was ordered and the matter of removing 

'^ Mass. Historical Society Proceedings, 2d Ser., Vol. 4, p. 297. 

^^ Watson's ^nna/j 0/ New York, 1846, pages 183-4. Stokes' Iconography, Vol. 3, page 
964, says 1777. 

^^ Minutes of the Coynmon Council, City of New York, Vol. i, page 285. 



QUARTERLY BULLETIN 



55 





56 T H E N E W-Y ORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

the statue referred to the State Legislature, for in 1788 we learn 
that a bill from the Senate "to authorize the Corporation of New 
York to remove Pitt's statue was read a second time, and commlt- 
ted.38 

This Act which was passed March 7, 1788 recited that the lev- 
elling and altering of Wall Street rendered it inconvenient that the 
remains of the statue should continue there,'''-' and at a Common 
Council meeting held July 16, 1788 it was ordered in pursuance to 
the above law that the Aldermen and Assistants of the Dock and 
Eastwards be a committee to remove the remains of Pitt's statue 
from Wall Street and that they deposit the same in some safe 
place until the further order of the Board.*" 

On November 19, 1788 a warrant on the Treasury was issued 
to George Gosman for £5-7-3 for removing Pitt's statue.*^ 

From various accounts it appears that the statue was taken to 
the Corporation Yard (Bridewell Yard) and from thence transfer- 
red to the yard of the Arsenal near the Collect where it was seen in 
1843 by Mr. John P. Watson, author of the Annals of New York, 
On August 12, 181 1 the Common Council resolved to present to 
the Academy of Fine Arts the remains of the Pitt's statue which on 
account of its excellent workmanship would be very acceptable to 
them.'^- It is doubtful if the statue actually passed into the posses- 
sion of that Society as it is not mentioned in their first exhibition 
catalogue in 1816 nor in an account of the statuary belonging to 
the Society published in 181 5. 

It next appears in the possession of the "Fifth Ward Museum 
Hotel," corner Franklin Street and West Broadway, where it re- 
mained until the Executor's sale of the effects of the late Thomas 
Riley (proprietor of the Museum Hotel), on February 12, 1864, 
when it was purchased by Mr. Samuel F. Mackie and by him pre- 
sented to the Society the same year. 

The Charleston, S. C, statue of William Pitt was erected July 
5, 1770 and now stands minus one arm in Washington Square near 
where it originally stood. It met much the same fate as the New 



38 New York Daily Advertiser, March 5, 1788. 

39 Laws of New York, 1886, Vol. II, page 725. 

^^ Minutes oj the Common Council, City of New York, Vol. i, page 386. 

^ Ibid., Vol. I, page 418. 

*2 Minutes of the Common Council, City of New York, Vol. 6, page 676. 



QUARTERLYBULLETIN 57 

York Statue, having had its right arm destroyed by a British Can- 
nonball on April i6, 1780 and on December 12, 1791 the City 
Council of Charleston authorized its removal which was accom- 
plished March 14, 1794 and it was lodged in the Arsenal. In re- 
moving it, the statue was allowed to fall and the head was severed. 
In May, 1808 it was re-erected in the Orphan House yard where it 
stood until 1881 when it was moved to Washington Square, where 
it now stands, having been repaired to the extent of replacing the 
head.''^ 

The two statues while not replicas were about the same size. It 
is of interest to note that Maryland in November, 1766 also passed 
resolutions for a marble statue of Pitt, which was not carried out, 
while Dedham, Mass., erected a shaft with a wooden bust of Pitt 
on top.^^ 



^ See Full Account in S. C. Hist. & Gen. Mag., Vol. 15, pages 18-32. 

** Hart's Peak's Allegory of Pitt, 1915, page 7, and Dedham Historical Register, Vol. I, 
pages 121 and 140. 

A. J. Wall. 



014 108 801 4 ^ 



